Mysterious little beige and gray balls the size of marbles, brought by the waves, forced the closure of nine beaches in Sydney, Australia on Tuesday, as authorities try to shed light on the situation.
“We don’t know at the moment what it is and that makes the situation even more worrying. “There’s something leaking or dripping…floating there and being transported around,” Northern Beaches Mayor Sue Heins told The Guardian Australia.
These strange gray and beige balls, which washed up on nine Sydney beaches on Tuesday “could be anything”, continued the mayor, while teams were working on the “safe removal of the material”, can we read in a statement from Northern Beaches Council.
“Debris samples have been sent for analysis. […] We will continue to monitor the condition of the beaches, particularly after this morning’s high tide,” the council added, announcing the reopening of seven of the nine beaches on Wednesday.
Only a few months earlier, in October, a similar incident occurred when large black balls washed up on eight beaches along the coast, including the popular Bondi Beach, the BBC reported.
These thousands of black deposits, which forced the closure of the beaches for a few days, had been described as “tar balls”, which would probably have been caused by a wastewater spill, according to authorities’ analyses.
These balls, similar to those that thrive in sewer systems, contained everything from cooking oil and soap molecules, traces of blood pressure medications, pesticides, hair, methamphetamine and veterinary medicines, according to the BBC.
The problem is that the city has reportedly reported no known problems with the waste management system, so the source of these bullets has still not been located.
